Accounts for the controversial Teesworks developments show a massive spike in revenues and profits in what the company describes as an “exceptional” year.
The company has been the subject of high-profile political debate after it emerged that a deal in 2021 transferred 40% of its shares from the South Tees Development Corporation to companies owned by private developers Martin Corney and Chris Musgrave. The firm had previously been a 50-50 public-private partnership but is now 90% privately owned.
A Government report into the Teesworks development was commissioned last May but has still not reported back, despite being expected at the end of last year. Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen has insisted that the report will find no wrongdoing.
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Now newly published accounts for Teesworks Limited for the year up to the end of last March show that its turnover more than doubled, going from £53.9m a year earlier to £142.9m. Over the same period, operating profit more than tripled, going from £18.9m to £66.9m.
The accounts say: “The performance of the company during the year ending 31 March 2023 was exceptional, having exceeded all major milestones and performance ambitions in terms of land clearance, land availability and lease negotiations. The company achieved a turnover of £142,889,169, which including the long-term lease disposal of 90 acres of land to a key anchor tenant, which has been achieved 18 months ahead of schedule.”
A breakdown of the company’s turnover reveals that £93.3m came from leases and land options, and just over £49.5m from the sale of scrap and aggregates recovered from the site. The company paid £12.7m in tax and announced just over £3m in dividends for its shareholders. It held £94m in cash and shareholder funds, which previously stood at just £177,000, have risen sharply to top £51m.
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Teesworks is Europe’s largest brownfield site, covering 4,500 acres on the banks of the River Tees. The land includes the former SSI steelworks and is being developed for a range of industrial uses, including wind turbine manufacturing and carbon capture.
The accounts say that its estate covers 2,600 acres, of which around 1,500 acres are developable. It has so far leased or sold land totalling 105 acres and expects agreement to be reached in the next year over another 407 acres.
The company said that future regeneration of the site would take a number of years and “at significant cost that is forecast to be in the hundreds of millions of pounds.” But it said that the original 25-year timescale for the site could be reduced by at least a decade.
The directors of Teesworks Limited are listed as Mr Corney, Mr Musgrave and Tees Valley Combined Authority chief executive Julie Gilhespie.